Review by Booklist Review
The latest book from Theroux is billed as a collection of his travel writings, but that characterization seems too straightforward. The book is about travel, and it's about Theroux; it's like the memoirs of a travel writer. The essays were written since 1985, with the exception of an essay about the Yangtze. One of the more recent is on Bruce Chatwin, whose masterfully conceived and written biography by Nicholas Shakespeare (Bruce Chatwin [BKL F 15 00]) conveys the slight role Theroux had in its subject's life. Here Theroux opportunistically attempts to tell his side of their story, ala his exposeof his ex-friend V. S. Naipaul (Sir Vidia's Shadow [1998]). The "travel writings" are arranged thematically. In the first and second parts, Theroux posits his philosophy about the writer's life and highlights some themes that surface in subsequent essays, such as the ascetic existence of the traveler and the concept of otherness, which "can be like an illness." In these sections, too, he covers his split from his wife and his return to the U.S. after living in England for nearly 18 years. When the book actually settles into the travel pieces, including travels to Nyasaland, Malawi, northern Scotland, and New Zealand, it picks up steam, and Theroux demonstrates his power to carry readers into different worlds and make those worlds "realer" through his agile and incisive prose. The section on China is most revealing of that culture and worth the price of the book by itself. --Bonnie Smothers
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In the 15 years since his first collection, Sunrise with Seamonsters, novelist and travel writer Theroux has gotten around. He's sailed the Yangtze River in China, crossed the U.S. in the comfort of a private rail car and camped during an ice storm in Maine. This collection gathers more than three dozen essays about these adventures and others, along with some book reviews. There is wide variety here, but Theroux's excellent observations of factory life in China rest uncomfortably on the same pages as his pride in exploring such places as Uganda, Honduras and Sicily before the "deluge" of other visitors (especially the "supine" tourists) swept in. Beyond the fun of learning about different parasites and reveling in his home turf around Cape Cod, these essays reveal much about the author himself. A solitary experience that requires self-imposed exile, optimism and a fair amount of "self-delusion," travel is also, as Theroux notes, "almost entirely an inner experience." At its best, travel writing lends insight into the human experience; at its worst, it settles for lighthearted navel-gazing. This collection encompasses both ends of the spectrum--from Theroux's revelation that "travel always involves a degree of trespass" to his whimsical declaration that he reached the peak of "fresh air fiendishness" on a hot, moonlit night on the Filipino island of Palawan: "Fulfilled, content, naked, alone, happy. I thought: I am a monkey." Author tour. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
An author as prolific and entertaining as novelist/travel writer Theroux should be forgiven the occasional lapse of effort. His latest wobbles in quality but reveals more about him as a person than he may have intended. Theroux, who has more than 20 works of fiction to his credit, plus a dozen travel books (e.g., Riding the Red Rooster), cleans out his writer's closet to produce a collection of previously published essays, articles, book introductions, and short stories. The book contains more truth than fiction, more opinion than adventure. For those familiar with his work, much of the book will seem recycled. However, since it is nearly 500 pages, one can skip the boring bits and enjoy the journey as Theroux hits the road or rides the waves. The sections on China and the Pacific are fascinating reading, and "Down the Zambezi" is equally excellent. The strengths of Theroux's writing are the nuggets of information he casually, but skillfully, inserts in his narratives. We learn about such diverse subjects as H-bomb testing on Christmas Island and the life of artist/travel writer William Simpson. Still, this is recommended only for larger travel collections.--Janet N. Ross, Washoe Cty. Lib. Sys., Sparks, NV (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
The prolific Theroux (Sir Vidia's Shadow, 1998, etc.) gives full vent to his wanderlust in this virtuoso collection of travel essays, all but one of which were written after his prior aggregation, Sunrise With Seamonsters (1984). Like Thoreau, who is something of a kindred spirit, Theroux combines a flinty individualism verging on crankiness, a curiosity about all manner of things, an almost pantheistic delight in nature, and a real grace of expression. Writing, he notes, is 'like digging a deep hole and not quite knowing what you are going to find, like groping in a dark well-furnished room'surprises everywhere, and not just remarkable chairs but people murmuring in the weirdest postures.' This description is just as apt, however, for explaining how he approaches the travel genre. As well as anyone writing in this deceptively narrow vein, Theroux understands how to filter the sights and sounds of such places as an African bush, the Yangtze River, or Christmas Island through the prism of his own personality. Essays are grouped thematically in sections dealing with his reminiscences, experiences as a kayaker and bicyclist, China, the Pacific, books of travel (by himself and others), profiles and appreciations of other writers, 'fugues' about bizarre practices of other cultures, and other places in Europe, Asia, and the US. Theroux can assume all sorts of guises: reporter (sharp dissections of pre'Tiananmen Square China and pre-takeover Hong Kong), Boswell to other writers similarly compelled to write about the world (Bruce Chatwin, Graham Greene), critic (a review of William Least Heat-Moon's PrairyErth), and lover of solitude (too numerous to mention). He can be scathingly funny on his Peace Corps experiences, discerning on the rigors of polar exploration, clinical on illnesses he's contracted on five different continents, and lyrical on exotic lands threatened by commercialization. A feast for both Theroux aficionados and those lucky enough to experience his distinctive world-view and evocative prose for the first time. (Author tour)
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
